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Australia needs to train more IT professionals: report

Madeleine MorrisUpdated
Tue 9 Jul 2013, 8:56 AM AEST

In order for Australia to keep up with the demands of digital technology, it desperately needs to train more IT professionals so it doesn't have to rely on foreign workers brought in on 457 visas. A report into the information and technology sector by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency predicts more than 30,000 new jobs will be created in the next four years, but there's a shortage of local talent - particularly women.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: In order for Australia to keep up with the demands of digital technology, it desperately needs to train more IT (information technology) professionals so it doesn't have to rely on foreign workers brought in on 457 visas.

A report into the information and technology sector by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency predicts more than 30,000 new jobs will be created in the next four years, but there's a shortage of local talent - particularly women.

MADELEINE MORRIS: Philip Bullock is the chair of the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency, which advises the government on the future of work in Australia.

Today it is releasing a report into the IT sector, and its message is clear: if Australia is to maximise the potential of the National Broadband Network and the Asian century, it needs more people choosing IT as a career.

PHILIP BULLOCK: The requirement for people to fill roles in the industry is not actually being met by the domestic supply. So in the ICT (information and communication technology) industry, roughly around 10 per cent of the work force is either permanent or temporary skilled migration.

MADELEINE MORRIS: Phillip Bullock says unless Australia can get more people interested in IT jobs, that proportion will grow. And it's not just about getting more people signed up to university courses.

The report has found that too often IT graduates have computer skills but not the business and communication skills which are also crucial.

PHILIP BULLOCK: We have to make these courses more relevant for employers and we have to get employers more committed to taking graduates and helping train graduates as they come out of university and also, unfortunately, the workforce is very male-dominated. We have less than 20 per cent of the work force are women.

So actually we're not drawing on the broadest possible talent pool that we could draw upon.

MADELEINE MORRIS: Marnie Hook, who has been working in IT for 20 years, says the industry is much more interesting and diverse than the image of the IT nerd would suggest.

MARNIE HOOK: It's great - I've worked in financial, retail, and merchant banking, and also manufacturing, and now in the sporting industry.

MADELEINE MORRIS: But she agrees it does have an image problem, particularly when it comes to women.

MARNIE HOOK: Oh, they probably think that it's full of men, which it can be.